Choke
Choke is the eighteenth episode of Glee's third season, and the sixty-second episode overall. It premiered on May 1, 2012. Kurt and Rachel prepare for their auditions at NYADA, focused and determined to get in. Kurt decides to take a risk but when Rachel goes with her typical number, something unexpected happens, leaving Rachel's future hanging. Some of the New Directions' girls make fun of Coach Beiste's black eye and domestic violence which Coach Roz and Coach Sue aren't too happy about. When Roz and Sue find out that Coach Beiste was hit by Cooter, they decide it's time for her to move out. The boys of the club try to assist Puck as he struggles to pass a history class test and if he doesn't, he won't be able to graduate. The episode was directed by Michael Uppendahl and written by Marti Noxon. Plot With their auditions for NYADA coming up, Rachel is focused and determined, while Kurt has a difficult time deciding what song to perform. Although he sings The Music of the Night by The Phantom of the Opera ''well, he believes he has a better chance with ''Not the Boy Next Door from The Boy from Oz. Kurt performs The Music of the Night for Blaine with Tina as Christine. Blaine applauded the song and listened to Kurt when Kurt was talking about how he needs to be his best. Blaine mumbles "Oh God, no. No more candles." Rachel advises him that this is not the time to take a risk, and convinces him to go with "The Music of the Night." While waiting in the wings for their audition, Rachel reveals that they will be auditioning for Carmen Tibideaux, a famous and exacting performer who is one of NYADA's most notorious alumnae and a newly appointed dean at the school. At the last minute Kurt decides to sing "Not the Boy Next Door," a song he claims is "something a little more out there, but much more me." Tibideaux is impressed by both his performance and the risk he took, saying Hugh Jackman himself would've been impressed as she was. Rachel sings'' Don't Rain on My Parade, but she forgets the lyrics and starts over. After she stumbles again on her second attempt, Rachel is devastated when Carmen ends the audition and leaves the auditorium. Roz Washington overhears Santana making jokes about the origin of Coach Beiste's black eye and informs the girls that domestic violence is not a laughing matter. She teams up with her Sue and with Beiste—who explains that she was hit by a speed bag—to teach the girls a lesson about domestic violence, and Sue assigns them to sing a song about women getting out of abusive relations. The girls later perform ''Cell Block Tango, and Sue and Roz inform them that they completely missed the point of the assignment. Beiste, who walked out on the performance, tells Sue and Roz that Cooter actually did hit her when he was drunk and she hadn't done the dishes. She explains that she does not want to leave him out of fear that no one will love her again; Sue insists that Beiste stay at her place that night, but Beiste opts to go to her sister instead. Beiste then reveals the truth about her black eye to the girls. The girls admire the courage that Beiste has shown and sing Shake It Out for her; but she does not reveal that she has given Cooter another chance. Finn is worried that Puck will not graduate. Puck tells Finn that he only needs to pass a European geography test to graduate, and that he plans to flirt with his teacher, Mrs. Doosenbury, to secure a passing grade. However, she rejects his overtures, telling him to study instead, and Puck decides to drop out of school. Later, while Puck is cleaning a client's swimming pool, his father—who he has not heard from in five years—shows up and asks Puck for $500 to pay his rent. Realizing that he does not want to turn out like his father, who is also a high school dropout, Puck enlists the other glee club males to help him pass his test. After studying with them all night, he takes the test, and tells them afterward that he feels confident about his effort. However, he fails the test; his future remains uncertain. Songs *'† '''denotes an unreleased song. Guest Stars Special Guest Star *Whoopi Goldberg as Carmen Tibideaux Guest Cast *Dot-Marie Jones as Shannon Beiste *Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans *NeNe Leakes as Roz Washington *Thomas Calabro as Mr. Puckerman *Samuel Larsen as Joe Hart *Vanessa Lengies as Sugar Motta *Damian McGinty as Rory Flanagan *Eric Bruskotter as Cooter Menkins *Kathleen M. Darcy as Eleanor Doosenbury *Rebecca Staab as Mrs. Collins Absent Cast Members *Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray *Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury Trivia *11th time in Glee where a song is re-sung **The first was Don't Stop Believin''' sung in Pilot and re-sung in The Rhodes Not Taken, Sectionals, Journey, and Sweet Dreams **The second was You're the One That I Want sung in Pilot and re-sung Hairography and Glease **The third was Proud Mary sung in Wheels and Sectionals **The fourth was And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going both sung in Sectionals **The fifth was All by Myself sung in Showmance and The Night of Neglect **The sixth was Big Spender ''in Dream On then The Purple Piano Project. **The seventh was ''Tonight in Preggers and The First Time. **The eighth was I Kissed a Girl in Pilot and then in I Kissed a Girl. **The ninth was'' That's the Way (I Like It)/(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty,'' first used in Pilot (Director's Cut) and then in Saturday Night Glee-ver. **The tenth was No Air, ''sung in Throwdown twice. **This time ''Don't Rain On My Parade is re-used, first being sung in Sectionals. **The twelfth was Teenage Dream sang in The Break-Up (acoustic version) and Never Been Kissed. *First time Puck has sung since Extraordinary Merry Christmas and the first time he is featured in a full song since Yes/No. *First time since Pilot that Kurt sings a Broadway song that was actually written for a boy. *When helping Kurt as back-up, Tina, Mercedes, and Brittany are wearing their first Regionals dresses. *Second time the New Directions make fun of Coach Beiste and apologize through a song. The first one is in the episode Never Been Kissed. *Fifth time in a row the final performance is in the auditorium. First in On My Way with Here's to Us, in Big Brother with Somebody That I Used To Know, in Saturday Night Glee-ver with Stayin' Alive, in Dance with Somebody with My Love Is Your Love and now in Choke with Cry. *Second time this season that Will doesn't give the assignment. The first was the Lady Music Week Assignment that Finn gave. *First time Quinn remains completely absent from an episode. *Brad isn't playing the piano during Shake It Out, an unknown cast member is. *This episode drew a 2.5 rating 18 - 49 with 6.01 million total viewers, the lowest for season 3. . Source *The scene where Rachel choked came from Lea's fear during the Glee Concert Tour. Lea claimed that she used to call the exec producer, Dante Di Loreto, and said to him that she was going to mess up one night and she was scared if it had happened. *The clothes Tina wears during The Music of the Night is what she wore during the You and I/You and I performance in Mash Off. *Third time that something bad happens to Rachel in the 18th episode, she suffers from tonsillitis in Laryngitis, Finn breaks her nose in Born This Way and chokes during her NYADA audition in Choke. *This episode earned Dot-Marie Jones (Shannon Beiste) a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Errors *Puck's test answers are rewritten when he receives the test back. *Rachel said that she was singing Don't Rain On My Parade since she was 2, but in Sectionals, she said she was singing it since she was 4. (Probably an exaggeration on her behalf) *In the beginning of the episode, Rachel mentions that she won't drink any milk, as it makes her "too phlemmy." However, she is a vegan and doesn't drink milk. But she could have been instead referring to almond, soya, oat or rice milk, which she would drink like normal milk being vegan. *When Finn is explaining the "plan of attack" on Puck, he accidentally points at Puck's stick figure instead of his own when he says "Blaine, Mike and myself" *The glee club shouldn't have been able to stay in the school all night. Navigational Category:Episodes Category:Season Three Episodes